Sunday, January 04, 2009

On the Road Again: Carmas

Ah, it is the end of Carmas, and with tomorrow, things get back to normal.

Carmas, also called Komuterwanza or Traffichaunaka, is a the longest traffic holiday of the year. It consists of removing drivers from the roads during peak hours by the fact that many people take a few days off around the holidays between Christmas and New Years. This is particularly true when those holidays fall mid-week, so there are bits of the work week left over at either end. Nothing is really going to get anyway, since other people will be out anyway.

The result is fewer cars on the road, a gift to everyone who showed up for work anyway. The trip to Bellevue, normally a half-hour to forty minute slog, comes out to a twenty minute jaunt. And I can use the highway! I'm just amazed. Plus, with the recent inclement weather, it extended far beyond the normal two weeks, edging into mid-December and now into the first week of January.

Tomorrow everything gets back to normal, and everything slips back into the normal grind until Easter or so. But for the moment, it was a brilliant, shiny gift.